Refrigerator light socket



June 13, 1961 T. A. VALLEE 2,988,725 REFRIGERATOR LIGHT SOCKET FiledSept. 20, 1957 United States Patent REFRIGERATOR LIGHI SOCKET ThomasVallee, Oconomowoc, Wis., assignor to Un lectnc, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis.,a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Sept. 20, 1957, Ser. No. 685,148

2 Claims. (Cl. 339-126) This invention relates to sockets for mounting alamp bulb by which the interior of an electric refrigerator or the likeis illuminated, and the invention has for its gencral object theprovision of an improved socket of that type which may be manufacturedmore easily, shipped more conveniently, and assembled into arefrigerator more readily than previously known sockets used for thesame purpose.

The socket for a light bulb that illuminates the interior of an electricrefrigerator or deep freezer cabinet usually comprises a cup shapedreceptacle or shell which receives the light bulb base, molded into aresilient housing of insulating material. The shell has a conductiveside wall and a conductive center contact insulated from the side walland exposed at the interior of the shell, and the side wall and centercontact of the shell are connected with opposite terminals of anelectric current supply to provide for energization of the bulb. Thehousing, which is usually molded of rubber or neoprene, has an openingwhich provides access to the mouth of the shell and has integral flangeson its exterior by which it is adapted to be mounted in a hole in aninner wall. panel of a refrigerator or freezer cabinet. Current isbrought to the shell by means of conductor wires which extend from aside of the housing which is remote from the opening therein, and themounting flanges lie between said opening and the conductor wires sothat when the socket is mounted on a panel a light bulb seated thereinwill be located in front of the panel and the wires will lie behind it.

Heretofore in sockets of the character described the conductor wireshave been secured directly to the side wall and center contact of theshell, by solder or other conductive bonding means, and have had theirend portions adjacent to the shell molded directly into the resilienthousing.

Since refrigerator light sockets are usually made by a supplier locatedat some distance from the manufacturerof the refrigerators into whichthey are assembled, the relatively long wires molded into the housing ofeach socket and dangling therefrom were a source of constant annoyance.T-hey complicated manufacture of the sockets because they had to beinserted during molding of the housing; they were a nuisance duringshipment of the sockets, and particularly in packing and unpacking thesockets before .and after shipment; and they were again a.source ofannoyance when the socket was assembled into a refrigerator or freezercabinet. Moreover, these wires'were long enough to become easilyentangled with other objects and pulled out of the socket, thusrendering the socket worthless.

Obviously, too, the wires had to be long enough to permit their freeends to be readily connected to other units in'the electrical circuit ofthe refrigerator or freezer, but not too long for the wiring harness inwhich the socket was used, and consequently the socket with its attachedwires did not have any substantial degree of versatility which wouldpermit it to be used in substantially different models of refrigeratorsand freezers.

'In spite of these disadvantages, the practice of molding the endportions of the conductor wires into the socket housing has persistedfor at least twenty years, as may. be seen from the patents to Kollath,Re. 20585 (originally issued in 1935), Langdon, No. 2,099,304 (issued in1937), Welch, No. 2,277,468 (1942) and Holloway, No. 2,460,636 (1949).

In contrast to this long standing past practice, it is an object of thisinvention to provide a refrigerator lamp socket of the characterdescribed which has only a pair of simple terminal connectors exposed atits exterior, with no Wires permanently fastened to the socket anddangling therefrom, and wherein the projecting portions of the terminalconnectors are effectively protected against the possibility ofinadvertent short circuiting engagement by conductive objects.

It is also an object of this invention to simplify and facilitate themanufacture, as well as the subsequent handling, of refrigerator lightsockets of the character described, by the provision in such a socket ofa pair of simple terminal strips which may be very readily and se curelyfastened to the shell in which the light bulb is engaged, as asub-assembly prior to molding of the housing, and which terminal stripshave exposed portions projecting outside the housing and adapted tocooperate with female spade-type terminal connectors to provide forconnection to the socket of electrical conductors having any desiredlength.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of arefrigerator light socket of the character described which is compact,and therefore easy to handle and ship, by reason of the fact that itdoes not have wires molded into its housing and dangling therefrom, andwhich, by the same token, is easier to manufacture because no wires needbe handled during the process of molding the resilient housing.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds this invention resides in the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafterdescribed and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it beingunderstood that such changes in the precise embodiment of thehereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of theclaims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one complete example of thephysical embodiment of the invention constructed according to the bestmode so far devised for the practical application of the principlesthereof, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator light socket embodyingthe principles of this invention, shown in disassembled relation to aportion of a refrigerator wall panel in which the socket is adapted tobe installed; and

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the socket, shown installedin a panel and illustrating one type of wire terminal connector adaptedto be used therewith.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 5 designatesgenerally a refrigerator light socket embodying the principles of thisinvention and adapted to be installed in a panel 6, such as an innerwall panel of an electric refrigerator or deep freezer. In general thesocket comprises a cup shaped shell or receptacle 7, in which the baseof a conventional light bulb socket (not shown) is adapted to be seated,and a molded body.

8 of rubber, neoprene or other resiliently deformable insulatingmaterial surrounding the shell and providing a housing for mounting thesame upon the panel.

The shell 7 has a substantially cylindrical metal side wall 10,helically ridged to provide threads which cooperate with those on astandard lamp bulb base, and terminating at its inner end in an inturnedannular flange 11. The inner end wall of the shell comprises inner andouter circular discs 12 and 13 of fibre or other insulating material. Acoaxial rivet 14 holds the discs in flatwise superimposed relationship,with their marginal edge portions clampingly overlying the flange 11 tosecure the 3 end wall to the side wall, and the inner end 15 of therivet also serves as a center contact for a light bulb in the shell.

Embedded in and extending through the body of the housing are a pair ofmetal terminal strips 16 and 17 having end portions accessible from theoutside of the body to provide terminals 19 and 20. Conductors 21 may beconnected to the terminals 19 and 20, as by means of conventional femaleclip-type terminal connectors 22 fastened on the ends of the conductors,and in this way energizing current may be conducted through the terminalstrips to a light bulb in the shell.

The inner end of terminal strip 16 is securely fastened to the shell bymeans of rivet 14, which thus also provides a direct connection betweensaid terminal strip and center contact 15. The strip 16 preferablyextends generally radially from the shell, but it may have a pair ofopposite oblique bends along its length, as at 24 and 25, to insureadequate spacing between it and terminal strip 17.

Terminal strip 17 is preferably bent to a substantially L shape and hasone leg 26 overlying and bonded to the outer surface of the cylindricalside wall of the shell, as by spot welding or soldering, while its otherleg 27 projects laterally from the shell, parallel to the outer portionof terminal strip 16.

It will be apparent that both terminal strips have very secureconnections to their respective parts of the shell, the security ofthose connections being augmented by the fact that the shell andterminal strips are molded into the housing as a sub-assembly, so thateach terminal strip is embedded in the housing throughout a substantialportion of its length. Moreover, the terminal strips resist being pulledout of the housing by reason of the fact that an embedded portion ofeach strip is disposed at a substantial angle to its projecting portionso as to resist forces parallel to the exposed terminal portions 19 and20. On the strip 16 this angularly disposed embedded portion is thesegment 28 which lies between the oblique angled bends 24 and 25therein, while the inner leg 26 of the second strip is of courseperpendicular to its exposed terminal portion.

To provide for mounting the socket in a panel, the housing has flanges29 and 30 extending therearound. These flanges oppose one another andare spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the thickness of apanel in which the socket is to be mounted, and their opposing faces areparallel to a plane lying between them. Preferably both flanges extendcontinuously around the housing so as to be adapted to grip marginaledge portions around a hole 32 in the panel to provide snug engagementwith the panel whereby displacement of the socket is securely resistedand whereby a seal is provided which prevents passage of air andmoisture from one side of the panel to the other through the hole 32.

A portion of the housing which is disposed entirely to one side of theflanges thereon defines a downwardly opening well 33 in which the shellis coaxially seated and the axis of which is substantially parallel tothe planes of the flanges. Thus the housing may be: consideredsubstantially L-shaped, with the shell-enclosing portion thereof formingone leg 34 of the L and the flanges 29and 30 extending around its otherleg 35; The flange 29 which overlies the front surface of a panel. inwhich the socket is mounted is spaced sufficiently far out from thejunction of the two legs: of the L to hold the shell in a position suchthat a bulb seated therein will be spaced forwardly of the panel a shortdistance; The lower portion of the shell-enclosing leg 34 of the housingcomprises an annular relatively flexible lip 37 extending below themouth of the shell to have sealing'engagement with the glass portion ofa light bulb screwed into the shell, and thereby provides a moistureseal. for the mouth of the socket.

The rear flange 30 on the housing merges into a rearwardly projectingannular wall 39 which projects behind the panel on which the socket ismounted and defines a well 41, the axis of which is perpendicular to theaxis of the shell and which opens away from the rear of the panel onwhich the socket is mounted. Into this well 41, from the bottom thereof,the exposed end portions of the two terminal strips project, so thatthey andthe terminal connectors secured to them are protected by theannular wall 39 from inadvertent short circui'ting engagement byconductive objects.

From the foregoing description taken together with the accompanyingdrawings it will be readily apparent that this invention provides asocket for refrigerator light bulbs wherein the dangling wires, moldedinto the housing of the socket, which formerly characterized suchdevices, have been eliminated, and wherein the shell in which the lampbulb base is adapted to be received has a pair of terminal stripssecurely fastened thereto to provide a compact subassembly which can beconveniently molded into the resilient housing and which greatlyfacilitates shipping, handling and installation of the complete socket.

What is.claimed as my invention is:

l. A refrigerator lamp socket adapted to be installed in a non-circularhole in a panel of a refrigerator cabinet, comprising: a body ofresilient insulating material; spaced opposing front and rear flanges onthe body, completely encircling the same, and adapted to grip themarginal edge portions of a non-circular mounting hole in a panel; ashort intermediate body part joining said flanges at their bases andhaving a non-circular cross sectional shape and size corresponding tothat of the hole in the panel so as to fit the hole and cooperate withsaid flanges to hold the socket body against all movement relative tothe panel; said body having a front part integral with said front flangeand a smaller rear part integral with the rear flange; a metal shellmounted in a cavity in the front body part to receive the base of alight bulb, said shell having a center contact adjacent to the bottom ofsaid cavity, insulated from the wall of v the shell; the rear flangeprojecting a uniform distance outwardly from said non-circularintermediate body part and comprising the largest portion of the rearbody part, said rear body part being taperingly reduced in cross sectiontoward its rear extremity and providing a rearwardly convergent nosewhich at its rear extremity has a non-circular shape similar to butsmaller than that of said intermediate body part to facilitate insertionof the rear part of the socket through a hole in a panel from the frontthereof; the front flange projecting outwardly from said intermediatebody part farther than the rear flange so as to stop rearward insertingmotion of the socket in a panel mounting hole when said intermediatebody part is in registry with the edge of the hole said rear body parthaving a rearwardly opening well therein, the bottom of which lies'closely adjacent to the plane defined by the junction between saidintermediate body part and the rear flange, the side surfaces of saidwell being substantially normal to said plane and together with theconvergent external surfaces of said nose defining an annular wall onthe rear body part to enhance the flexibility of said nose and therebyfacilitate projection thereof through a mounting hole in a panel; and apair of rigid terminal conductors embedded in the socket body, in spacedrelation to one another, the inner end of one conductor beingelectrically connected with said center contact and the inner end of theother conductor being electrically connected with said shell, saidconductors projecting rearwardly through said intermediate body part andthe bottom of said well and having their rear end portions terminatingand housed within said well.

2. The refrigerator lamp socket of claim 1, wherein said cavity in thefront body part is disposed onan axis said plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 5Cameron Apr. 6, 1920 Herskovitz May 18, 1926 McKinley Feb. 28, 1928Webster Apr. 25, 1933 Kollath Oct. 22, 1935 10 Kaplan Nov. 14, 1939Welch Mar. 24, 1942 Benander Aug. 4, 1942 Holloway Feb. 1, 1949 ColeNov. 16, 1954 Woofter Feb. 17, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany May 2, 1957

